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Starter or reliever? The question on Crow lingers

Topeka native has been strong out of bullpen, but Royals may need him in rotation

While Kansas City isn't ruling out the possibility of moving Aaron Crow into its starting rotation, the Topekan appears to have found a home in the Royals' bullpen.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — By now, Aaron Crow has gotten pretty used to answering the question.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he says as if he’s given this response countless times. “Right now, I’m in the bullpen. I’ll worry about next year when next year comes around.”

The question, of course, is if the Kansas City Royals right-hander and Topeka native will move from the bullpen to the starting rotation, an area the team desperately needs a boost. The Royals selected Crow in the first round of the 2009 draft with every intention of making him a starter. However, the Washburn Rural graduate struggled in the role as a minor leaguer in 2010 and then found success out of the Royals’ bullpen the past two seasons.

Now, the Royals must decide whether to leave a good thing alone or try and get the full return on their former No. 12 overall pick.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “That’s a question that’s going to be asked about him probably his whole career. He’s an elite relief pitcher right now. I’m not saying it will never happen, but I’m saying right now that he is a very good fit in the bullpen. We feel like our bullpen is one of the best in the league. That’s not to say that he can’t transition into a starter, but that’s not a conversation we’re having right now.”

That doesn’t mean Crow won’t be considered as a starter when 2013 spring training rolls around. Depending on what moves Kansas City makes in the offseason and how soon pitchers Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino can return from injury, Crow could be looked at as an option. Crow joins free agent Jeremy Guthrie, Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Will Smith, Jake Odorizzi and Luis Mendoza on a long list of internal candidates.

Crow, the 2008 Big 12 pitcher of the year for the Missouri Tigers, was coveted by many major league teams because of his mid-to-upper 90s fastball combined with a plus slider that serves as a devastating out pitch. With continued development of his changeup, scouts viewed Crow as a potential frontline starting pitcher.

The Washington Nationals affirmed the belief by selecting Crow ninth overall in the 2008 draft. He turned down the Nationals’ $3.5 million offer, pitched in an independent league and was selected by the Royals as a high first-round pick for the second consecutive year in 2009.

“He’ll jump in at an advanced level and handle that level,” Royals assistant general manager J.J. Piccolo said at the time of the draft. “He was somebody that was a little more advanced and prepared to move through our minor league system.”

The plan went off course when Crow was 9-10 with a 5.73 ERA in 29 starts at the Double-A and High-A levels in 2010.

Placed on the 40-man roster when he was signed, Kansas City gave Crow the chance to make the majors as a reliever in 2011. He responded by maintaining a 2.03 ERA in nine relief appearances that spring, good enough to make Kansas City’s opening-day roster.

Being able to embrace his aggressive pitching style and narrow his repertoire to mostly fastballs and sliders, Crow flourished as a reliever. He was perfect through his first 15⅓ major league innings and finished the first half with a 2-2 record, 2.08 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 43⅓ innings. Crow joined Ken Berry, also a product of Washburn Rural, as the only city high school graduates to be named to an All-Star Game.

Still, the bullpen simply appeared to be a way to acclimate Crow to the big leagues and give him some confidence. The Royals gave hints that the long-term plan was to make Crow a starter.

“I would never abandon the thought of making him a starter somewhere down the road because his stuff is pretty dynamic,” Royals manager Ned Yost said before the start of the 2011 season. “We’ll start him in the ’pen, have some success and go from there.”

Yost later compared Crow’s stuff to Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander, providing more support for a potential move to the rotation.

The Royals opened 2012 spring training with the idea of trying Crow out as a starter. But when longtime closer Joakim Soria learned he would need Tommy John surgery, Crow was moved back to the bullpen.

He is about to complete his second successful season as a major league reliever. Crow didn’t match the numbers of the first half of his rookie season, but he also didn’t have the dropoff that came after the All-Star break in 2011 when he was 2-2 with a 4.58 ERA.

“For the most part it has been more consistent,” Crow said. “Last year, the first half was great, and the second half was terrible. This year has been more consistent. Hopefully, I can finish strong and have a good mindset going into next year.”

Entering Saturday’s game against Detroit, he was 3-1 with a 3.30 ERA with two saves in 62⅔ innings.

“He’s maintained and has been really solid for us,” Eiland said. “He’s been one of our main setup guys most of the year, especially after (Jonathan) Broxton left and (Greg) Holland went into the closer’s role. He’s done a good job for us. Ned and I have the ultimate trust in him — putting him in big situations setting up games — and he’s done a good job for us.”

With Crow, Holland, Kelvin Herrera and lefty Tim Collins leading the way, the Royals have developed one of the best bullpens in the major leagues. Entering Saturday, the Royals’ bullpen boasted a 3.16 ERA for sixth best in the majors, while pitching 532⅔ innings for third most in the MLB.

The Royals’ starting pitching has been a different story. Kansas City’s 4.95 ERA for starters is fifth worst in the majors. The rotation also has allowed opponents to hit .281 for fourth worst in the bigs.

The lack of effective starting pitching led to reports in August that the Royals may consider moving one of their relief pitchers to the rotation in 2013.

“We’ll always have to look internally for solutions first, then we’ll go outside your organization,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “We have some very talented arms, some very young talented arms. We have to look at that and evaluate it. We’re just not 100 percent sure which direction we’ll go.”

The names of the potential converts that surfaced were Crow, Collins and Herrera. Because Collins has never started a game professionally and Herrera hasn’t done so above the Low-A level, Crow seems like the most logical choice.

However, there would be some work involved. The reality is that Crow hasn’t started a game for two years or above the Double-A level. Crow also is on pace to finish his second season in a row throwing fewer than 70 innings. Most teams would like close to 200 innings out of a starting pitcher.

“Hypothetically, you made him a starter next year and he ends up with 80 innings this year,” Eiland said. “Then you probably can’t take him more than 115 or 120 innings next year. That would get him into August, so that would be something that would have to be manipulated and looked at. That would figure into the equation, too, if you were going to make him a starter.”

That’s not to say such a move would be impossible. The Texas Rangers have displayed success in moving relief pitchers into starting roles. C.J. Wilson won 15 games for the Rangers in 2010, pitching 204 innings just a year after totaling only 73⅔ innings in the closer’s role. Wilson, now with the Los Angeles Angels, has developed into a consistent All-Star.

The bigger obstacle for Crow may be the change in approach. As a one-inning guy, he is able throw at maximum velocity and rely mostly on this two best pitches — fastball and slider.

“I would need to be more consistent and getting my changeup to be better than it is now would be the biggest things,” Crow said. “I’ve thrown more curveballs than changeups this year for my third and fourth pitch, but if you’re going to be a successful starter you have to keep batters off balance with the changeup, so that would be something I would have to work on a lot more.”

Command is another area where Crow would need to improve. Crow’s worst moments have been when he walks the opening batter or gets behind in the count and then leaves a ball up in the zone in an attempt to get a strike.

“He’s got to have good command,” Eiland said. “You can’t look up in the fifth inning and see that you have 100 pitches. To do that, you have to work ahead consistently and get quick outs. Again with Aaron, it’s going to be command because he has plus stuff. We’ve seen improvements since the beginning of the year, and the second half has been even better.”

Crow also has struggled when the Royals have attempted to pitch him multiple innings. He has a 10.12 ERA when he has been brought back into the game for a second inning this season.

With all of that taken into account, it appears the Royals’ first wish is to keep him as a reliever. However, if the Royals are unable to re-sign Guthrie or pick up another quality starter or two via trade or free agency, they could turn to Crow.

For those reasons, Moore isn’t willing to completely close the door.

“We’ll see,” Moore said. “We have several opinions that believe this is going to be his best role, his most dominant role. But Aaron’s a very talented pitcher and could probably perform very well in whatever role we decide is best for the team.”